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German Shepard is an escape artist

Any suggestions for a really sturdy indoor dog kennel? I have a 3 year old German Shepard who has recently become un-potty trained. We moved to a new apartment and he has since been having 'accidents' in the house regularly. So I'm thinking its back to being crated during the day at least for a few hours when no one is home. He has a plain wire kennel, one of the collapsible ones, but in the past he has managed to pry the door open or pop the entire front panel off and get out of it.

How about one of the "hard" sided kennels? Like this one: http://www.petco.com/product/10316/P...um-Kennel.aspx, though that may not be large enough. They do make large kennels for German Shepherds, my aunt and uncle have two big girls and each have their own kennel.

Those hard kennels are a lot tougher to break out of then their wire counterparts. Good luck. Thank goodness my guy isn't an escape artist and can be contend in his soft, nylon crate with a zippered door.

I'll have to ask my friend what kennel she purchased for a Houdini bully breed. He demolished wire crates, plastic crates, and an "impossible to destroy" metal kennel, but the one he's in now he hasn't been able to get out of.

If wishes were horses then beggars would ride...
DLA: Draft Lovers Anonymous

You need something like this. I don't have this model and can't vouch for it, but as the owner of a Husky, a notoriously hard to contain breed, (mine put a dinner plate sized hole in the front gate of his crate - I can't bend the wires back into place with my hands if that tells you how strong he is) I can tell you that a lot of people swear by them for dogs like you describe.

Did you start your crate training gradually -- and did you give him something interesting to do in there when you put him in it?

Crate training works best when the crate is a *wonderful* place to be -- then they don't try to escape! I started both of mine in the crate in short intervals -- crate would be feeding place, or where they were given super spectacular treats (pig ears, etc). Leaving him in the crate with a stuffed frozen kong to work on while you were gone would be another option to keep his mind on other (less destructive!) things.

He's probably unsettled from the move and has no "den." He may be having accidents to make the place smell like "him" or "home." If this happens when you're gone for the day, it's probably a separation anxiety thing. My family dog was wonderful for a few years, she was crate trained extensively. One day she decided she could not be contained and she randomly gets out of the wire crates and then pee's somewhere she's not allowed (Dad loved this...).

Start with a crate and give him something that smells like your old home or you (t shirts are good). Work on small time increments of leaving him alone. I found a radio playing softly helped Zoe when I was gone for the day. That and also giving her a command whenever I left her alone, that included the bathroom, getting the mail, or all day. That way she never knew if I was going to be gone "forever" and freak out. If the dog always associates you turning off every light and jingling keys, for example, with you leaving for extended periods and does have sep. anxiety, he's going to go nuts within minutes of the door shutting.

Is he going in the same place? When I moved to my new house, both dogs started peeing in the house. But it was in the same upstairs bedroom. Turns out they were marking their territory over urine stains from the previous owners pets. Once I pulled up the carpet and refinished the hardwood floors the peeing stopped.

One of my shepherds was also an escape artist. I have a huge crage with 1 inch square metal bars with a special latch. It worked because the she couldn't get a grip on the very small holes to destroy it. It's very heavy and does not fold down. She did eventually learn to pop the primary latch and I had to add a secondary stall latch.

She was properly crate trained as a puppy and had no trouble getting in her crate. But shepherds are smart and once they figure out that they can get out, well, why stay in if you don't have to. I had to use dead bolts on all my doors and velcro the refridgerator too!